UPDATED SINCE ORIGINAL POST TO INCLUDE NEW TIPS FOR THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES OF 2018.

I have been treating multiple cases since last week of people being affected by the bad air quality because of the Southern California fires we're dealing with, with my patients' worsening of their allergies, asthma, and sinus congestions, eczema, chapped lips and dry skin.

I'd like to share this link that was created by fellow herbologists at Scarlett Sage during the Sonoma fires earlier this Fall. It has a list of helpful herbs to drink as tea to protect the lungs and mucous membranes, as well as to help calm frayed nerves from the anxiety. My Sonoma friend who suffered through the fires found the link super helpful, she said.

Some other tips to help ease respiratory distress and allergy symptoms:

Stay indoors and keep your activities to a minimum, even indoors, to protect your lungs. This is particularly the case for children as their lungs are not as developed and strong as us adults, so we need their lungs to be rested as much as possible to help them deal with the toxic air they’re breathing.

Turn on your A/C if it’s not pulling air from the outside. Keep the temperature on the higher side so your house doesn’t get cold. Keeping your body warm is very important in keeping your immunity up.

Take regular baths to help you stay warm and sweat, to help your body relax and detox.

HEPA filtered fir purifiers and nasal sprays are also very helpful to keep the sinuses clear and moist. I like Xlear. Keeping the sinuses moist helps prevent broken skin, which is a cause for irritants and infections to enter the body.

Stay well hydrated. If your skin feels dry or you have chapped lips, your body is really thirst, so drink more than you think you need. Consider not just water, but soups, as these are complete meals

Use a humidifier during these dry nights, and it's an overall good idea to use one during the Fall and Winter season as the air naturally gets dry, and worsens due to heater use in the house. If the bad quality air is affecting your family strongly, also consider doing facials steams with eucalyptus essential oil to protect the sinuses and lungs.

Diffusers are another option. Consider throwing in some essential oils of lavendar, eucalyptus, melaleuca (tea tree), or lavendar. Or get an EO already mixed for respiratory support.

If any of you are significantly feeling the effects of the ash, soot and general bad air quality, use mask N100 or N95. You can find them at hardware stores or paint shops. This tip is from the same friend who suffered through the Sonoma fires. Kid size N95 masks are available; I’ve found them on Amazon. Consider getting these for your immuno-compromised children and asthmatic children, but do keep an eye on them because breathing through a mask is still work and may make some kids have difficulty breathing. I would use these only if you have to be outdoors for a reason. The best tip really is to keep kids indoors.

At the same time, be mindful of your family’s diet, especially now that we’re entering the holiday season. As much as festivities are about fun and indulgent eating, it’s important to keep your sugar/alcohol/gluten and diary intake low so the sugars and cloying nature of dairy doesn’t feed the inflammation. We WILL see a spike in respiratory illnesses and allergies in the coming days, weeks and months not only because it’s cold/flu season, but because our lungs will be taking a beating from the fires/smoke. Prevention and active pre-emptive actions are tools we can use to protect our health and our family’s health.

Get good sleep. Go to bed early (by 10:00p for adults; for babies/kids, anywhere between 6pm-9pm the latest depending on their age ) to repair and heal. Here is a helpful link to know how much children and adults should be sleeping nightly.

My colleague, Elisa Song, MD, has also shared a very detailed blogon how to detox from the air pollution, as she was also affected by the fires up north last year.

How can Asian Medicine help you during these times?

Consider getting cupping done to help open the chest and sinuses. You can also purchase facial cups made of silicone to gently cup the sinuses, neck, cheeks and forehead to support sinus drainage, both for yourself or your children. I offer quick 30-min cupping sessions so for those with time constraints, it’s a quick in and out but you’ll leave feeling a whole lot better and your chest breathing deeper and expansively. I also sell these facial cups at the office.

Consider also coming in for regular acupuncture/shonishin treatments for prevention and to lessen symptoms as well as to reduce stress.

If time is a crunch for you mamas or you’re needle phobic, I have Mommy’s Happy 30 Minutes sessions, which are ear acupressure session. Or I also offer herbal-only consultations to prescribe herbs that prevent or treat respiratory/allergic symptoms with herbs.

If you’re wondering if our current weather has anything to do with your skin flaring, you’re right.

This dry weather has all to do with why your eczema or your family's eczema is flaring up like crazy. Our skin breathes, just like our lungs (in our medicine, we say the skin is the outer organ of the Lungs). And right now, it's breathing in dryness and bad air. So the dryer the air, the dryer your skin gets because the blood, which is already compromised - dry and weak - and causing eczema, is not nourishing your skin. Consider drinking the teas or giving the teas I recommend in above in the link to your children as well. And do the above suggestions I listed, if you haven't already.

Consider drinking gelatin tea/bone broth multiple times a day or taking collagen to build up the hydrating elastic capacity of your skin. Wood Ear mushroom aka bai mu er in Chinese is also EXCELLENT at building that mucilaginous layer in your skin and membranes. Cucumber is cooling and hydrating.

Avoid red meats, spicy food and dairy.

Drive with the windows closed and with the air set on recirculation at all times, too!

Start taking or up your doses of your probiotics to support the gut which makes blood. I have a few topicals available in my office as well.

Last but not least, if your symptoms worsen despite medications or these preventative measures, consider coming in to get acupuncture and herbs. We have excellent natural remedies to fight many respiratory issues, as well as for anxiety as this can stir up fear and anxiety for many, and for eczema. We can also help boost your body's ability to fight off the effects of the dryness and toxic air quality.

Stay safe Angelinos, and we hope these fire get contained soon. May those of you who have been affected by the fires find safety and peace, and I thank all the hardworking fire fighters fighting the blazes!

You know how you read on the news every so often of healthcare providers saving lives on airplanes? I even read about a fellow acupuncturist not too long ago doing this. Well, guys, I am now part of this select club!

I recently had to travel to Hawaii to take care of some family business. (I wish it was for a vacation!) About half way through the plane ride, a flight attendant goes on the intercom and asks for any health professional to go to the back of the plane. I stood up and went to the back.

I walked to the back with two other big husky men, one who I believe was a paramedic, and the other a firefighter based out of Hawaii. At the back of the plane was a woman who was red in the face, sweating, with an ice bag on her neck, looking completely shaken. The two men had her sit down and they started taking her vitals. They asked for her history, and it turns out she had just taken 2 doses of valium, was on birth control, was on her period, and was on a respiratory medication because her doctors thought she might have had some kind of respiratory infection recently. She was also on East Coast time, which put it quite late for her as we were on an evening flight that night. That's quite a lot right there in terms of pharmaceutical load and physiological pressures being placed on the body.

Once the men were done, I quietly moved in front of them to take her pulse, and if you are my patient, you know I always tell you how your pulses are doing. This poor woman's pulses were extremely rapid and slippery, indicating to me that her body was in obvious distress and with her heart having to work overtime. I always carry couple shonishin tools for emergency situations (though I never thought in a million years I would use it for this kind of emergency situation!), so I pulled out one of my small tools from my purse and started tapping PC6 and SP4 to calm her down. It did nothing. At this point, the woman is now starting to shake uncontrollably. Seeing that my usual points to calm a person wasn't doing anything, I went straight to Du26. Instantly, her shaking stopped. I was incredulous. It's a point I've only had to use once on another patient, but for a different reason, so to use this empirical point for a real SOS reason and to see it work was mind blowing (14 years into practicing this medicine, and there rarely goes a day where I am not in awe of what this medicine can do for the body!). After a minute of pressing it, I let it go to see if the point was what was really stopping her shaking, and lo and behold, when I let go, her shaking came right back! So of course I immediately went back to pressing it all the while checking her pulse.

As her pulse started to normalize, I stopped pressing Du 26, her shaking didn't come back, and started then working some other body points to stabilize her further. I worked on her, continuously checking her pulses for feedback. After about 10-15 minutes of working on her body, her pulses finally stabilized enough that the redness was completely gone from her face (she was actually quite pale now), she was no longer sweating, she wasn't shaking at all, and she was able to talk in a normal voice as opposed to being breathy from the rapid heart beat and what I assessed was a panic attack. Her stomach pulse was still beating a little too hard, so I asked her if she'd eaten anything recently, and she said she hadn't since lunch (and it was already around 7pm PST). Knowing that she was on her period, I knew her panic attack was coming partially from lack of nutrients and blood sugar imbalance, both having not eaten anything and that she was losing blood, so I told her to eat something to bring back up her blood sugar levels.

Seeing that she had now stabilized, I felt my job was done, and I went back to sit down in my seat, leaving her with the two men to watch over her.

Maybe about 15 minutes later, a flight attendant comes to my seat and quietly asks me to come back to the back as the woman had started shaking again. So I go back. Du 26 at this point wasn't doing anything. She was past the point of acupressure. I tried to have her do breathing exercises because I know with panic attacks, slowing the breath is the most powerful tool in calming the mind. Her professed self-hypochondriac though was too strong at this point, and I couldn't get her to calm her breath enough to have her control her body. She was spiraling out of control, and without needles, I couldn't do much more.

All the while, the other gentleman who I believe was a paramedic, asked her what she does to help her calm down usually when she panics, and she said she was studying mindfulness and meditation. Bingo! My sister was also studying mindfulness and meditation, so I quickly left the woman to go pull my sister out of her seat to come help me. My poor sister and I were both experiencing deer in a headlights situation, as we both didn't know what to expect at this point.

My sister started having the woman focus outwardly, on anything she saw - my sister's face, my sister's hair, the scarf she was wearing, the walls of the plane, the lights, etc. Then she had the woman focus on the sensations she was feeling internally and say them out loud. While my sister was guiding the woman through mindfulness, I once again started feeling her pulse, waiting to see a shift in it, and started pressing KD 1 to ground her mind, energy, and breath. As my sister had the woman now start doing Inhale 4, Exhale 6 count breathing practices, the woman finally starts to calm down again and the shaking slows down. I stayed with KD1 for a very long time. I then went to her head and neck area, and it was still quite hot to the touch, so I put the ice pack back on them, to cool her heated head. I also had her drink orange juice to jump her blood sugar and gave her one of my protein bars to counter the blood sugar spike from the orange juice. She finally normalized again and her pulses were even more stable, so I knew she was stable.

During the second time of me working on her, she shared with us that she was a mother to 2 children. Poor woman. Between being a mom -- and we all know moms never get a break, was on these medications that can affect the heart, hadn't eaten, was on her period, and was on a long flight, and a professed anxious person, it was, as she said, the "perfect storm" for this to happen. She was so apologetic to us and embarrassed. We had to reassure her multiple times that we were in this business of saving lives and helping people because we want to, and that we were happy we could be there to help her.

As a former panic attack survivor, I know all too well that feeling of disempowerment when you are going through a panic attack. You feel so helpless, isolated, and afraid. It turns out the firefighter also suffered from anxiety, though he said he has kept it in check for many years with medication, acupuncture (yay!!), and other self help tools, so there was this real energy of empathy and support towards this woman because he and I had "been there" with anxiety. We 4 stayed with her and lightened the talk to get her mind off what had just happened.

The woman was finally well enough to walk back to her seat, guided by the two men in front and back of her.

We landed, and last I saw was that the paramedics were there assessing the woman. I knew she was in good hands now.

Moral of the story: if you suffer from anxiety, consider learning mindfulness/meditation/breathing exercises and practice this on a daily basis. Get regular acupuncture treatments to calm your nervous system, calm your mind and improve circulation so that your brain and heart is nourished. If taken consistently, there are some excellent Chinese herbs to address panic attacks, such as Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang or Gui Pi Tang. Eat high quality protein and consume gelatin on a regular basis to nourish your blood. If you are going on a plane ride, make sure you eat well prior to getting on the plane. That would consist of a meal heavy on protein to stabilize your blood sugar with some carbohydrates to give you the energy you need to deal with the stress of plane travel. Hydrate throughout the plane ride and take healthy snacks like protein bars and veggie sticks to keep your blood sugar stable. Going on a plane ride is stress-inducing even for those who aren't prone to anxiety, but worse for anxious people, so come prepared.

Disclaimer: The information here and on the Iyashi Wellness website in general is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with qualified health care professionals. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

I am sure by now most of you here in the US have been reading, if not hearing on the radio, or even dealt with it like myself!! -- the epidemic nature of the flu and other viral respiratory infection season we're having here in the US. Here in California, it’s hitting us hard big time. News of hours-long wait in the ER, of medicine not being able to meet the demands, of hospitals building emergency tents to accommodate the overflow of patients seeking care. I have even read of news asking people to stay home and not come to the ER or urgent care if one is suffering from the flu, except if they are having trouble breathing or rest has not alleviated the symptoms after several days, or has worsened even after several days. This is because with conventional medical care, all they can advice is indeed rest, hydration and more rest for flu patients, unless one can catch the flu in the first 2 days to administer Tamiflu, an antiviral. But that is it, as far as I understand, for care that conventional medicine can provide unless hospitalization is required.

In contrast, in Chinese medicine, we have a centuries-tested whole plethora of herbal medicine specifically for upper respiratory conditions (but for other conditions, too!). The Chinese built an impressive knowledge of herbs and their usage to treat their citizens literally over centuries because there was no other medicine until the advent of conventional medicine until about 150 years ago. Flus, epidemics, pneumonia, bronchitis, and the gamut of upper respiratory conditions though, have existed for as long as humans have existed, and the Chinese treated these conditions very effectively using herbs and acupuncture – and continue to do so to this day.

Another benefit of Chinese herbs are that because they are made by combining several different herbs together to achieve a synergistic effect for a specific condition, you get none of the problems associated with antibiotic usage, such as decimation of gut microbiome or creation of antibacterial-resistant strains since many antibiotics are prescribed as a broad-spectrum drug to kill all bacteria. And that's the other problem. Antibiotics don't work for viral infections, but flu infections are caused by viruses. The right Chinese herbs prescribed by a trained Chinese herbalist/acupuncturist will protect the gut microbiome, kill viruses or bacteria and help you recover faster. There is definitely a time and a place for antibiotics, especially if the condition has become severe and/or life-threatening, but if you are an average healthy person, you can have a gentler yet effective approach to combat the flu and other infections, so why not try Chinese herbs first?

We have herbs to boost immune first and foremost so you don’t get sick. But we also have antiviral and antibacterial herbs and formulas to prescribe for the onset of a cold or flu to stop it before it becomes worse (a classic formula for this is Gan Mao Ling or Yin Qiao San, which every home should have in their medicine cabinet!), during a cold/flu to alleviate the symptoms and shorten the course, and post cold/flu for faster recovery. We have herbs for difficulty breathing, for fevers, for chills, for sinus congestions, for headaches, for sweating, for lack of sweating, for body aches, for stomach flus, for fatigue, for dizziness/low appetite/constipation/diarrhea associated with these infections, for rashes and skin disorders that can erupt with infections, for flares of asthma, for wheezing, for incessant runny noses, for sinus pain, for seizures (particularly a concern for infants and children) associated with fevers, for joint pain, for tight neck/shoulders, for coughs wet/dry/barking/painful, for chest pain, for vomiting that comes from too much coughing, for urinary dribbling that can happen if coughing has become excessive, for laryngitis, throat pain, dry throat, for strep, for edema/swelling. And the list goes on.

When you come in to see an acupuncturist, we take all your symptoms into consideration and will then precisely prescribe herbs to address all the symptoms you have so that you can start to feel relief quickly. We don't have a one-size fits all medicine, like Tamiflu, but a highly sophisticated knowledge and encyclopedia of herbs to quickly, effectively and uniquely address your unique flu/upper respiratory infection and your unique constitution.

As you start to take antimicrobial Chinese herbs, your symptoms start to shift as well b/c of the effect they have on the infection, and we have herbs for that too. You will be prescribed anywhere from one to four or so different prescriptions as the infection runs its course to address the natural shift that happens as the infections starts to be killed by the herbs and your body fights it and starts to heal from it. This way, you (or your child) aren’t left with that dry cough, or that runny nose, or that fatigue that often happens at the recovery stage (Xiao Chai Hu Tang can be a good one to take at this stage). When this lingers, in our medicine, we know there is latency left in the body, making you susceptible to yet another infection, or re-emergence of the same infection b/c it was not eradicated completely. What this means is that we acupuncturists deeply understand disease progression and therefore can hold your hand as you overcome the infection through herbs, acupuncture and diet.

We also make sure you recover fully with tonic herb prescriptions so that your immunity is now even stronger having exercised it greatly through the infection. As part of our training, we will also provide dietary suggestions to support your health through the infection and recovery stage as we are highly trained in Food As Medicine, and certain exercises to do at home in the recovery stage to further strengthen your lungs and immune system. Now that’s patient-centered whole health care!

Given this year's flu vaccine purportedly only has a 10-30% effective rate, it's imperative you fill the immunity gap with self care and being savvy by utilizing acupuncture and herbs to protect yourself and your family. Find an acupuncturist or Chinese herbalist near you and ask for an herbal consult. I offer these and am well stocked with all the necessary herbs to deal with this year's tough cold/flu season!

Some specific tips for this year's virulent flu and other flu-like viral infections: A severe sore throat is one of the predominant symptoms. For this, consider taking Chuan Xin Kan Lian Kan tablets from a reputable American-manufactured Chinese herbal supplier. You can also gargle with a lemon juice-salt-water mixture every 2-3 hours at the onset of the sore throat. Make the mixture as sour and salty as possible mixed with a little water, and gargle at least 3-5 times each time. Make sure to rinse just your teeth afterwards (don't let the water touch your throat) so that the enamel doesn't dissolve from the lemon juice. Don't drink any liquids after gargling for at least 30 minutes to allow the effects of the gargle penetrate deep into the infection. Oregano Oil is also a good natural remedy to take as it's known as a natural antibiotic and will enhance the effects of the Chinese herbs. You can continue to take Oregano Oil or Gan Mao Ling in smaller doses through the cold/flu season as a preventative as this year's infections are having a latency effect where you think you've beat it, but it returns again if you're tired or under a lot of stress. Please stay on top of it and allow yourself plenty of rest and sleep to keep your body as strong as possible. Don't forget to take your Vitamin C, D and Zinc as well to boost your immune system.

Here are other natural and home remedies you can use to help you and your loved ones through this cold/flu season.

Disclaimer: The information here and on the Iyashi Wellness website in general is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with qualified health care professionals. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

I got sick this winter break, which is very rare for me, but I thought it was just me. When I started hearing from and reading several of my acupuncturist colleagues' Facebook postings that they too were sick, I knew this one was not the run of the mill cold and not one to be messed with. (See, we acupuncturists have an arsenal of herbs, dietary knowledge, immune boosting exercises, cupping and acupuncture at our disposal to keep ourselves healthy while we treat the sick. The same prescriptions and treatment we use on our sick patients, we do onto ourselves!)

I came across this fantastic read on the non-flu flu-like viral infection that explains why this year's respiratory infections are not to be messed with. I am not a homeopath therefore cannot comment on the gentleman's homeopathic remedies. The information of the infection manifestation and progression is fascinating, however, and very informative, helping to explain some of the unusual expressions this infections is causing on people. For Southern Californians, the flu and this flu like infection is hitting our community particularly hard because our lungs have been assaulted from a year's worth of respiratory pollution and attack. Within one year, we Los Angelenos have been bombarded with an unusual and toxic amount of environmental pollution that we didn't have a year ago. It started with the rains earlier last year, which begot mold. Sinus infections were a very frequent complaint all of last year. Then, from the abundance of rain, plants blossomed during the spring which begot all kinds of pollen and other plant releases that LA has not seen most likely in 50 years and in the amounts we have not seen in a long time. Seasonal allergy issues were rampant in my office. People who normally don't have seasonal allergies were even suffering from allergies last year. Then the fires. We had to inhale ash, debris, fire retardant, and environmental pollution and gases that came about from the burning of metal, gas, plastic, and other materials which are normally not in the air. On top of this, the dry air from the fires had weakened our lungs, making us even more susceptible to infections. Many people were already battling fire-induced respiratory issues, and then this virus and the virulent Aussie flu comes along! So we Southern Californians have been assaulted with all kinds of air particulates that, combined with the two viruses, is wreaking havoc to many and taking down not just individuals but whole families at a time. After notifying my patients of this virus, many of my patients reported that their entire families got sick over the winter break, and badly.

No wonder even I got sick!

Be careful people. Don’t take what seems like cold symptoms lightly because it could be what this gentleman is alluding to. Stay hydrated, wash your hands frequently, prioritize good sleep, abstain from sweets/carbs, alcohol and dairy, and load up on Vit c, d, zinc. And as the homeopath in the article states, this infection has a latency tendency, so really do be mindful of your body. If you still fill run down or tired even after the major flu-like symptoms are gone, rest, rest, rest, and rest more. Eat clean and bland foods to protect your gut to help build back your immune system. And of course, go see your acupuncturist to keep your immune system in top shape, too, with acupuncture and herbs..

Some tips to strengthen and moisten your Lungs:

Consider incorporating humidifiers or diffusers to bring moisture to your home air. Do regular steams for you and your child.

Eat foods that are moistening and protective to the lungs. A classic Chinese Medicine remedy for dry lungs and dry cough is steamed Asian pear drizzled with honey and cinnamon.

I have more food lists and recipes for lung tonics and immune tonics here and here.

Disclaimer: The information here and on the Iyashi Wellness website in general is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with qualified health care professionals. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Autumn, like Spring, is when the weather varies drastically, as the season shifts from one extreme to the other (as in from the hot summer to the cold winter that is to come in the case of Autumn). At least here in Los Angeles, Fall is when we have some drastic temperature and weather changes during the month of September, from rainy drizzles to whippety-windy days and cooler temps to highs of 100 degrees during an Indian Summer. What remains consistent, though, is the wind. It’s windy most days. That’s Fall for you.

We say in Chinese Medicine that Autumn is when the Yang and Heat of the summer is slowly dying and the Yin and Coldness energy begins to grow. This gives rise to the transition of Cold-Dryness and Warm-Dryness (thus the windy days). Fittingly, it is also the season of the Lung System. If you have respiratory issues, it's this season that respiratory issues get more aggravated than others, energetically speaking. When the weather is dry and it's "lung season", people are prone to catching colds and flus. The lungs detest dryness. We should thus eat foods that nourish the Yin. These foods soothe dryness, taste sweet and moist, promote the secretion of body fluid and benefit the lungs, without being greasy or dry.

Some good examples of Fall foods to promote these benefits include: pear, persimmon, banana, sugarcane, lily bulb, white fungus (or bai mu er), and radish. Soups/consommes/broths are also excellent for moistening internal organs. I have started to make miso soup every night to drink for dinner and breakfast. It is lovely to wake up to a nice hot cup of miso soup every morning.

Another good option in lieu of miso soup is a ginger tea with brown sugar and a very popular healthy Chinese drink made with apricot seed powder (locally in Southern California, this powder can be found in 99 Ranch stores). Let’s talk Chinese herbology for a moment here. Although the apricot seed powder is called Hong Kong Style Almond Powder, the “almond” part is actually a mistranslation, and it’s really an apricot seed of the sweet, southern China variety. Apricot seed, or xing ren, is used extensively in Chinese herbology to treat coughs, asthma and constipation. The sweet variety is less bitter and non-toxic and is excellent to treat chronic dry coughs and constipation of the dry kind. Apricot seeds, like other seeds, have oils in them, and thus its capacity to be an emollient to the lungs and a lubricant to the intestines.

In Chinese Medicine, we say that the Lungs and Large Intestine are correlates of one system. The lungs open in the mouth through the throat and ends in the anus through the intestines. Therefore, if one is prone to respiratory issues, in Chinese Medicine, we often say that individual is prone to bowel issues, and vice versa. If you are clogged on one end (i.e., asthma), you have a tendency to get clogged in the other end (i.e., constipation). Therefore, if you treat one organ system, you need to treat the other, and this herb, xing ren, does both! And as I alluded earlier, the Lungs – and thereby the Intestines – detest dryness. The oils of xing ren provide the emollience and moisture the two organ systems require to function optimally, especially during this drying time of year, and into winter when heaters are on full force.

Conversely, if you have a phlegmy cough, xing ren would not be suited for you because it’s too cloying. It would need to be combined with other herbs to break up the phlegm. It is very rare for a single herb to be used to treat a certain condition in Chinese medicine. We often combine multiple herbs to formulate a prescription to offset the toxic, warming or cooling nature inherent in certain herbs. For example, the northern China variety of xing ren would never be prescribed alone because it has some toxicity if taken in large quantities. This northern variety is prescribed only with other herbs to offset this toxic nature while enhancing the cough-reducing, phlegm-busting, bowel-moving nature of this excellent herb with the other herbs.

[As a side note, the same warning against using just one herb applies to the Chinese herb, Ephedra, or ma huang, which became a very popular energy stimulant and weight loss pill in the early 2000s when they removed the active chemical component from the herb. After multiple deaths were confirmed from the usage of this drug, the drug was banned in the United States, along with our profession’s ability to prescribe the drug’s original format, the herb, in our formulations. Ma huang is a potent herb for sure, and it has been in our material medica for literally thousands of years as a highly effective herb for acute onset of respiratory illness, anaphylactic asthma attacks and acute nephritis. Ma huang is excellent at stopping in its tracks an acute asthma attack, chronic asthmatic wheezing, as well as banishing a strong cold infection of high fevers, no perspiration, severe headaches with strong chills, and acute nephritis. The effects of ma huang for these conditions were almost instantaneous. BUT, ma huang was NEVER prescribed alone because of the potent ephedrine alkaloid function to stimulate metabolism. It was ALWAYS combined with other herbs to mitigate the powerful effects of this herb, and almost ALWAYS used for respiratory conditions, never for weight loss or to boost stamina and athletic performance, as was the bastardized usage in a non-medical setting in the United States. It is a real shame that this herb was taken from our professional repertoire because so many asthmatics and highly virulent colds and flus could have continued to be effectively treated with the usage of mahuang in formulations. Herbs are never to be taken casually, and therefore it is extremely important that when getting herbs, you are getting a prescription from a trained herbalist, whether in the Asian medicine tradition like myself or Western herb tradition.]

An exercise that is wonderful at strengthening the Lung system is the classic yoga pose, Warrior pose. Take that pose a step further and make it into an Archer pose where you mimic an archer: take one arm as if to pull the arrow back, curving your fingers into almost like a tiger paw and pulling your elbow as far as it can go, and take the opposite arm to push the bow forward straight from your shoulder. Turn the pushing arm's hand up to a 90 degree angle as if to signal Stop. This will make your inner arm stretch even more. Repeat this with the other arm, so you're pushing and pulling on both arms alternately. Repeat this 10 times on each arm. This dualistic push and pull movement of the two arms forces one to open wide the chest while forcing the core to tighten and steady oneself to balance this expanding movement in the upper torso. The legs are wide open and steadying your stance as well. This is a pretty solid stance and makes one feel quite invincible. And that is how one has to feel during the cold and flu season: invincible from the onslaught of coughs, colds, flus and other respiratory ailments prevalent this time of year. From a Chinese medicine perspective, the Lung and Large Intestine channels run along the arms, and by doing the particular archer movements stimulates both channels in the arms and thereby the organ systems. So not only are you physically expanding and exercising your lungs via the widening of the chest with the arm movements, but the arm movements trigger stimulation in the channels, to make this exercise a deeply strengthening, nourishing and stimulating exercise for both the organ system and channel systems. And the contraction of the core while standing steady stimulate the Spleen, Stomach, Small Intestines and Large Intestines.

As the weather continues to cool, taking regular hot baths is also an excellent preventative for colds and flus, to relieve sinus congestions and infections, improve sleep, maintain a well-running digestive system and, of course, is a great stress buster.

And as I always say, when it's windy, protect your neck, because we say in Chinese Medicine that the Wind is the Carrier of One Hundred Diseases(scroll down the linked blog article on more about Wind), and the neck is most susceptible to wind invading our system and wreaking havoc. Put up your collar, wear a scarf or hoodie, and keep that neck protected.

Here and here are other herbal and home remedies for cold and flu prevention and treatment.

Last but not least, come in for acupuncture or herbal consultations to keep your body in tip-top shape! Click here to book your appointment conveniently online.

Angelina Jolie revealed in the upcoming September issue of Vanity Fair (available online now) that she suffered from Bell's Palsy last year. What helped her recover fully from it was acupuncture.

Acupuncture is an extremely effective treatment for Bell's Palsy, particularly if treated soon after the onset of the condition. In Asian Medicine, we say Bell's Palsy is often caused due to Wind in the Channels. What this means is that due to an underlying deficiency in the Liver system the patient already has whether from lifestyle, poor diet, chronic infection or latent infection of some sort, or extreme, prolonged stress, the channels are vacuous like a hollow subway or tunnel. When such a person is put in an environment with strong winds or drafts, this wind courses through the vacuous tunnel (ie channels) and can cause the muscles and nerves to "freeze" and droop. What most patients will note upon consultation at an acupuncturist's office is that the Bell's Palsy came on after an evening sleeping under a rotating fan, or they were at the beach on a very windy day, or the A/C was blasting full strength right by their head or face. Next thing you know, they have Bell's Palsy.

If such a patient came in to get acupuncture, moxa, cupping, and herbs - ASAP after this occurrence, the recovery is almost always 100%. Even if years have passed, I've had success helping patients recover their muscle strength back in the face. One patient, who did extensive acupuncture at the onset of Bell's Palsy years ago and got much of it resolved, came to me because his Bell's Palsy started to get pronounced again due to his lifestyle and the natural progression of aging. I was able to bring back mobility to the muscles again that the drooping was really only perceptible to someone looking intently at the face.

If you or your loved one is suffering from Bell's Palsy, please seek out a physician of Asian Medicine immediately. We can help tremendously!!

I’m sure you’ve seen it now on TV and in magazines, photos of celebrities and star athletes with acupuncture needles on their face and body or cupping marks on their backs. Do you know why? Because they, and the masses, are discovering the ancient “secret” to enhanced beauty, a stronger immune system, increased mental and physical performance, and drugless recovery from chronic illness. Often regarded throughout the West as a mysterious form of pain relief, acupuncture is so much more than that! Here are just a few celebrities who love acupuncture, and why they use it.

Sandra Bullock reportedly demands that acupuncture be included in her contract with studios, whether she's at home or on set. She gets treatments three times a week. According to one source, Bullock has needles placed in her forehead, face, stomach, and feet, and believes it helps her look more youthful and feel healthier in general.

Cosmetic acupuncture, which I now offer as a service (I learned a special technique during my education trip to Japan in Fall 2016), is a specialized method of acupuncture that aims to reduce wrinkles, balance oily or dry skin, clear acne, eliminate shadows under the eyes, get rid of puffiness, and bring a healthy color to the face by stimulating circulation. Cosmetic acupuncture is hot among a number of celebs (as well as ordinary people who just want to look as great as their favorite celebs). Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Kim Kardashian, Natalie Portman, Alicia Keys, Jim Carrey, Julianne Moore, Gwen Stefanie and Sean Connery keep looking gorgeous in the spotlight thanks to their acupuncturist!

In addition to helping celebrities look youthful without going under the knife, acupuncture also helps them get slim and trim for events where paparazzi are sure to be snapping photos of everybody's bare triceps as they wave. Jennifer Lopez used acupuncture and Chinese herbs to help her lose 15 pounds. According to OK Magazine, one source revealed that Lopez has “been gushing about how obsessed she is with acupuncture and herbs.” Acupuncture assists with weight loss by helping the body to balance its hormones and stimulate a sluggish metabolism. The relaxation brought about by acupuncture can greatly improve sleep quality, which assists with building lean muscle and reduces a voracious appetite for unhealthy foods.

For Gwyneth Paltrow, acupuncture is not just about the physical benefits. According to her, acupuncture has brought her to a higher state of consciousness. The positive influence of acupuncture on her mental and spiritual well-being had helped her during her marriage and to cope with her father's death. Paltrow told Oprah, “I have been a big fan of Chinese Medicine for a long time because it works.”

Supermodel Elle McPherson eschews new fads for tried and trusted ancient remedies. She sees a Chinese Medicine doctor of acupuncture on a regular basis, and she prefers to use herbal preparations for her ailments instead of reaching for pills. McPherson reports that she looks after her body from a Chinese Medicine perspective, which she believes promotes optimal health.

Most recently in the news, cupping, a form of treatment used in Asian Medicine, was highly visible in the form of cup marks on numerous Olympic athletes during the Rio Olympics 2016. Michael Phelps, 23-gold medalist winner in swimming, is an avid user of cupping, and I want to say, along with his grueling training, cupping helped him win five gold medals and one silver medal in the Rio Olympics. Cupping is excellent at relieving muscle tension, sore muscles, and respiratory problems. I use cupping on both my pediatric patients and adult patients, and they all love it. My kiddos ask me all the time to do cupping and when it’s done, they are so relaxed and happy. Same with adults. In addition to Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston, we’ve read Victoria Beckham and Jessica Simpson also love cupping, to help them get over jet lag and travel fatigue.

More and more in the news now also are celebrities using acupuncture and herbs to help them conceive. Celine Dion and Mariah Carey credit TCM with helping them conceive their babies. Women often come to TCM when they are having a hard time conceiving naturally or even with the aid of reproductive endocrinology (RE). However, what I see often in my clinic and hear from my colleagues is that when a woman incorporates acupuncture and herbs into her health care routine, she conceives, even after failing previous IVF cycles.

Luckily, you don't have to be billionaire engineer, Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man), to afford acupuncture sessions! It is extremely reasonable, especially for all the good it does for your body and mind. If acupuncture is helping our most attractive celebrities and accomplished sports figures, maybe it’s time you try it, too.

Spring 2017 in Southern California is turning out to be a brutal one for allergy sufferers. Thanks to the unprecedented rain we received in January and February this year (Governor Brown officially declared the end of the California drought!), nature that has not been seen in decades is growing now! It's breathtaking to see all the greenery, but...the joke is, there are plants that have probably been dormant for 50 years, so who knows what kind of pollen and allergens they are releasing into the air? Not funny, Mother Nature. Not funny!

Allergies are also exacerbated with the growth of mold. LA is usually a very dry place, so mold typically is not an issue, but because of the rains, there has been rampant explosions of mold everywhere. If you were part of the unfortunate many that had to deal with a mold problem, this can weaken your immune system as well, which will then trigger allergy reactions or make them worse.

If you or your child suffer from seasonal allergies, be proactive and get acupuncture or PAOM treatments and herbs now, even with Spring in full force. (Aside from pollen, find out why allergies, anger and anxiety get exacerbated during Spring, here.) These treatments can help strengthen your body's immune system so that it doesn't have a meltdown with the onslaught of allergens that are being released this Spring. Acupuncture and herbs will also help release a lot of heat that was built up over winter. During the winter, heat was necessary to keep us warm and cozy, but will exacerbate allergies with Springtime's warming trends. As much as we need warmth to help invigorate yang, which propels life to grow in leaps and bounds, too much yang energy can backfire. So let Asian medicine regulate your system and put you in equilibrium so you aren't left miserable with what will be a "perfect storm" for allergy sufferers this Spring.

The following are tips you can incorporate to lessen or alleviate your allergy symptoms.

1. GOOD HABITS AROUND THE HOUSE

Nix the stuffed animals: they only harbor dust mites, pollens, and other ickies. And since most kids keep them in their room and/or on the bed, that's what they're breathing in all night.

Wipe your feet when you walk in the house and leave your shoes by the door.

Eliminate wheat: Like dairy, wheat is an energetically "cold" food and "dampens" the immune system.

Cut out processed foods and eat more home-made foods high in nutrients, like soups made from beef or chicken bones.

Incorporate super greens (like chlorella or spirulina) twice to three times a week for the duration of spring if you're an allergy sufferer.

Along with the super greens, start bringing in cooked bitter greens into your diet as well as some sour foods to start waking up your liver. Some examples of liver-activating foods are: Ume plum found at Japanese markets, sauerkrauts which have natural probiotics in them, and goji berries (pop a small handful daily).

Cut back on red meats and do a more vegetarian diet and/or pescatarian diet once or twice a week to give yourself and your littles' liver and digestion a break and detox from winter build-up.

These dietary suggestions ring true for children, so incorporate these tips into their diet to help them transition into Spring with more ease.

3. POSITIVE ACTIONS

Breathe in peppermint: Peppermint opens the sinus passages. Put a drop of peppermint essential oil in your palm with a carrier oil, rub your hands together, and breathe in the minty goodness.

Shower before going to bed: Pollens stick to your hair and body, and you'll breathe them in while you sleep.

Detox your body:

Do some sauna or infra red heat action once a week to help start sweating out some of the heat, toxins, and build up you have from winter (not recommended for children).

Consider doing sea salt cleanses. Buy course sea salt and do a dry rub or wet rub during your showers. Rub vigorously your neck, arm pits, inguinal region, palms and soles of feet to help detox your body. You can do the same for kids too, just rub more gently and get less course sea salt.

There are many misconceptions about poop out there, especially for babies. I constantly treat constipation issues for my pediatric patients. Aside from crying, babies can’t vocalize their discomfort, yet parents are often told by their allopathically-trained pediatrician that not pooping every day -- especially for breast-fed babies -- is “normal”. Many parents leave with an uneasy feeling about this and others go on believing that their baby is defecating normally.

In Asian medicine, we emphatically disagree with this notion. Though a culturally taboo topic, physicians of Asian medicine often speak to their patients about bowel movements because we know of its singular importance for the body.

We have 4 major pathways of detoxification in our body: sweating, breathing, urinating, and defecating. Defecation is where most of the toxic substances from the liver and intestines coalesce and are removed from the body. All living things are hardwired to sleep, drink and defecate when they are born. Babies release their very first poop, in the form of meconium, from the moment they are born. And this meconium will quickly turn into feces once breast milk or formula is introduced. Babies, if they have a relatively healthy GI system at birth (stemming from a healthy gut of the mother’s and father’s DNA and inoculated with mom’s bacteria through vaginal birth or introduction of probiotics immediately after C-section birth), will normally continue to defecate even after breast milk or formula is introduced.

This is my unscientific theory, but common sense tells me that the introduction of processed foods made it common for babies to not poop every day because of the difficulty in digesting chemically processed foods. Once processed foods became mainstream for families (within the last 2 generations), normal physiology went out the window. This is where many allopathic pediatricians, along with modern moms isolated from the wisdom of our parents and grandparents, have come to say that constipation is “normal” for babies. My point is that just because there are now a lot of babies that don't poop daily (including breast-fed babies), does not mean this is normal. Physiologically-speaking (and from an Asian medicine perspective), we know the body should have bowel movements daily if food is consumed and the bowels are working optimally.

Everything You Didn't Want to Know About Poop (But Should)

The difference in bowel movements between a breast-fed baby and formula-fed baby is in the quantity, color and odor. Though breast milk is the most natural food a baby can consume, there are still byproducts in it the baby has to remove from its system. Healthy breast-fed babies will poop every day, but in lesser quantity, as the body can better absorb and utilize much of mom’s milk. The smell should be sweeter and color will be closer to yellow or slightly green and have a mushy texture. Formula-fed babies will manufacture poop that's more pungent and will be closer to brown with a pasty texture resembling nut butter. Formula-fed babies have a tendency to skip bowel movements because it is more difficult for a baby to absorb and process the formula's nutrients. Once solids are introduced, this will change with both types of babies, making the stools more stinky, browner, and thicker than nut butter, but still mushy. (If you want to learn even more about baby poop, go here.)

So we talked about what poop should look like. What about poop that doesn’t happen, a.k.a. constipation? First of all, let’s define constipation: bowel movements that occur once every 2 days or more and tend to be dry, hard and difficult to evacuate.

Did you know there is more than one kind of constipation in Asian medicine?

In our medicine, we differentiate constipation in 5 ways, along with the patterns that are associated with the constipation:

1.“Classic” or Yangming Heat constipation: difficult to push out and the stools are hard and dry, perhaps itty bitty pellets. Bowel movements occur only once every two or more days/week. Hard poop (either itty bitty or log-like) is usually the classic sign of dried intestines/not enough gastrointestinal hydration, preventing poop to travel smoothly through the intestines and out. The child tends to run hot, likes to be down to their diapers/underwear, may have outbursts of anger, a large, distended tummy, have a huge appetite, sweat easily, and have red cheeks. They don’t like to have their stomachs touched.

2.Spleen Deficient constipation: difficult to push out, but once the stools come out, they are soft, even diarrhea like, often with food particles in them. May have bowel movements every day, or less than once day. Child may be a picky/slow eater, low energy, forgetful, have weak muscle definition, a distended stomach, sensitive to sounds and sights, and may suffer from food allergies. Loves to consume cow dairy and wheat products predominantly. May have clammy hands and/or feet. Most children/babies fall under this pattern of constipation.

3.Liver Qi Stagnation constipation: a sensation of fullness above the stomach with difficult to push out stools, possibly itty bitty pellets, and there may be pain upon defecation. More likely to have a blue tinge of vein or coloring on the bridge of their nose or on the temples. Child may be type-A type who never rests, have possible extreme mood swings with anger being a major emotion, exposed to an environment of high stress (early trauma, parental discord, classroom setting that doesn’t work with the child’s personality, clashing personalities between parents and child, etc.)

4.Yin Deficient constipation: occurs after a febrile disease(s) with difficult bowel movements. Child may have dry skin, mouth and scanty urination with possible low grade fevers in the afternoon, run hot and thirsty, particularly at night. May be sensitive to sounds and have difficulty falling or staying asleep.

5.Cold constipation: often seen in children who have had antibiotics, eat mostly cow dairy, wheat products, and cold/frozen/raw foods with possibly severe stomach pains that are relieved with warmth, distended stomach, blue vein/coloring on bridge of nose, runny nose, prone to ear infections with cold or damp hands and feet. If antibiotics are not part of the child’s history, this is a progression of Spleen Deficient constipation due to excessive cow dairy/wheat/cold/raw food consumption.

Individual Poop Protocols

One of the outstanding beauties of Asian medicine is this exquisite notion of differentiating conditions based on patterns and accompanying symptoms and characteristics of an individual. Instead of identifying constipation and just prescribing fiber or a laxative, in our medicine, we can prescribe very specific treatments: customized herbal medicine, food as medicine, and specific exercises that stimulate the organ and channel systems that are out of balance in that individual. Asian medicine is truly custom made for each patient that walks (or is carried) in the door. By prescribing these custom protocols, we have the ability to target the unique set of patterns and conditions present in the patient, making the medicine highly effective to the needs of the patient, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all medicine that may or may not work.

This differentiation then explains -- and I often see posts on mommy forums and mommy blogs asking about constipation in babies and kids -- why fiber doesn’t always work for their child. A lot of wonderful tried-and-tested suggestions are given by moms with a lot of success in these platforms. Although fiber can be very helpful for constipation issues, many times fiber isn't the right answer, especially if your child has loose stools even if constipated, aka the Spleen Deficient constipation type I discussed above. They push a lot, but what comes out aren't itty bitty or hard logs of poop (i.e., the Yangming Heat type constipation), but more like soft poop or loose stools after the initial possible hard poop. Constipation with soft/loose poop is a sign that the GI system of the child is too weak to push out the stool. In this situation, giving heavy fibrous foods can backfire because the stomach needs to work harder to digest the fiber. This taxes the intestines and ends up clogging the stools even more. Another popular suggestion given on mommy sites is giving a lot of fruits to the child, but this too can backfire. Even though fruit is fibrous, it's high in sugars, so fruits can make stools stickier and cause a more candida/yeasty environment in the gut. This can cause other symptoms like eczema, diaper rash, bad breath, addiction to sugar/sweets, etc. Popular laxatives will also only make the child dependent on the medication without helping to strengthen the GI tract, which is really at the root of the problem -- a malfunctioning (in this case hypo-functioning) GI tract. We want the child to poop on her own accord without pain and being on medication -- which is really what all parents want for their kiddos with constipation problems.

Tips to Alleviate Constipation

I will be having a class on how to treat constipation naturally after the holidays (so sign up to my newsletter on my homepage to be notified when I make my class announcement!). Here are, however, some tips I always share with my parents when they come in for constipation problems for their babies or child.

1.Try an elimination diet of removing cow dairy and gluten from the child’s diet for 3 weeks (same goes for breastfeeding moms). From our medical perspective, cow dairy and wheat create a very cloying and “dampening” environment in the gut. Think of cheese melting and how cloying that is. Likewise with wheat products. Leave cereal in milk long enough and it expands and becomes mush. These two things happen in the gut, and if your child a) has a particularly weak gut and/or b) consumes mostly dairy and wheat as primary food groups, all the mushy and cloying foods clog up the digestive tract, making the child a pickier eater and slowing down the bowels. The digestive tracts of babies and children are still very immature and need to develop, so these two food groups really do a number on their system. Just cutting out these two food groups often does the trick with many of my constipated patients.

2.In lieu of wheat and cow dairy products, consider bringing in variety to meals by switching to foods like rice, quinoa, amaranth, cassava flour, and other non-gluten grains and flours. Instead of cow dairy, consider goat, sheep and alternative dairies. If your child fights you on this, a gentle note (with big consequences) that cow milk and gluten are very addictive. Yup, you read that right. Addictive. Here are helpful tips on how to get your picky child to eat.

3.If your child suffers from Liver Qi Stagnation constipation, have her move her body very regularly (i.e., exercise) and if therapy is called for, have the family also go through therapy to help support the child’s emotional needs.

4.If your child is suffering from Yin Deficient constipation, have him eat rice porridge, a.k.a. “okayu” daily for 2 weeks. Okayu is also excellent for children suffering from Spleen Deficient constipation and Cold constipation.

5.If your child suffers from Yangming Heat constipation, fibrous veggies are helpful here, since veggies are mostly cooling in nature and along with the fiber, will cool and push the stools on their way. Hydration of room temperature water or coconut water (or breastmilk for infants) -- not ice cold water -- is very important to moisten the bowels. Gelatinous foods like gelatin, okra and chia foods are also helpful here. A gentle, food-based laxative is also helpful for this kind of constipation: ½ cup prune juice, 1 TBS lemon juice, and 1 cup water. Drink once a day until bowels start to move.

6.Massage: Lightly massaging the belly in a clockwise rotation is helpful for all types of constipation, along with lightly slide pressing down along the outer shin and massaging the toes. Lightly sliding your palm down from the base of the child’s waist (similar to where the top of the diaper sits) to the bottom of the bum is also helpful. Do these massages for 1-2 minutes on each area once or twice daily.

7.Starting on a daily regimen of probiotics is also very helpful.

Incorporating Tips 1, 2, 6 and 7 alone goes a long way, and adding any of the tips based on your child’s presenting constipation pattern will add more to the results. The same goes for breastfeeding moms. Since what you eat affects your baby tremendously, following these tips will help your baby.

I cannot stress the importance of reminding parents that a child’s digestive tract is still very vulnerable to damage from consuming the wrong foods (types of and temperatures) and medicines and doing so will cause imbalances in the gut. Please remember a child’s digestive tract is still weak and developing, and therefore simple food combinations made at home eaten at room temperature or warm is optimal for a child. Cold, raw, frozen foods will squelch the digestive fire of a child, causing Cold constipation and further weakening of the Spleen. Minimal flavorings also help the digestion assimilate foods better without being overwhelmed with strong condiments. Minimizing processed foods and excessive sugars will also help to continue strengthening the gut by preventing toxic buildup in the gut.

Consider also bringing your child to an acupuncturist trained in pediatrics to help break the patterns in the child and jumpstart the child’s metabolic activity in the gut. Acupuncture/shonishin along with Chinese herbs are very effective at resolving constipation. Funny story: I often have babies and children coming to me for conditions other than constipation, but once I start treating them, parents almost always tell me, “My baby/child had a massive poop right after your treatment!” They often tell me their child starts to poop pretty much every day after we start treatments.

Disclaimer: The information here and on the Iyashi Wellness website in general is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with qualified health care professionals. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Luriko was at Mama Needs A Drink again by popular demand on Wednesday, October 19th. She was asked to present information on how to stay cold/flu free this fall and winter season. First, she shared how Asian medicine works on children, educating the group on the effectiveness and availability of Asian medicine for pediatric use.

Acupuncture on Babies? Whaaaat?

In Luriko’s practice, she uses both non-needling and needling techniques, customizing the treatment based on the child’s age, constitution, mobility, sensitivity and condition. Luriko can use needles on babies (and older children who are unafraid and can sit still for a few minutes) because:

babies have yet to develop pain receptors and as such don’t feel pain the way older children and adults do,

the acupuncture needles she uses on babies are extremely thin (thinner than those used on adults which are infinitely thinner than those used to draw blood or sewing needles!) which cause no to very minimal discomfort in babies,

unlike adult treatments, needling is a quick in-and-out insertion for babies and children,

babies are not conditioned to fear needles like older children and adults do (and thus increase their pain perception) because they have not experienced the multitude of doctor’s visits for vaccine shots and blood draws, and

she will usually needle only up to 3-5 points in babies. If needles are not used, she will use shonishin, tuina, heat therapy, and infant massage, usually to elicit the same effects of acupuncture without the invasiveness of acupuncture.

Luriko also educated parents on pediatric Chinese herbal medicine, which are usually made in sweet tincture forms so that they're easy to administer to babies and children. These tinctures are manufactured under strict quality control in the United States, ensuring safe usage even in the youngest of patients. Using Chinese herbs in conjunction with acupuncture/shonishin and other manual modalities improves the efficacy of the treatments done at Luriko’s office and speeds up the healing process.

Why Add Asian Medicine to Your Kids' Care?

Luriko also explained how incorporating Asian medicine into a child’s healthcare repertoire can significantly cut back on the need for harsher pharmaceutical drugs and invasive surgical procedures. Asian medicine treatments allow the body to restore homeostasis. Homeostasis refers to the body’s ability to reset and start running optimally, with blockages unblocked and fine-tuning the functions of organs that are often under-functioning or over-functioning, which both are very prevalent in children. The feel-good hormone, oxytocin, released during treatments help to decrease cortisol levels in the body and also affect the nervous system, regulating the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest-and-digest system). (Here is an article that describes in more detail how acupuncture works from a biomedical perspective.)

She shared with the parents that Asian medicine can be a valuable tool to treat babies and children for a myriad of common childhood conditions, including: recurring colds, constipation, tummy aches, colic, asthma, ear aches, sleep issues, ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, tantrums, clogged tear ducts, failure to thrive, lack of energy, picky eating, etc. It can also be used to helped children navigate developmental milestones more smoothly. Asian medicine provides feedback to parents should there be synergistic treatments necessary to assist in developmental milestones from other healthcare practices, like occupational therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic, and so forth.

When Luriko began talking about how to prevent colds and flus naturally (read here and here for some of the details she went into), parents started raising their hands for questions, from how to prevent colds in newborns (up the breast milk intake or frequency if you can, among other things, because mama’s milk has crazy number of antibodies that get created based on viral/bacterial infections surrounding mama and baby), to can I give probiotics to babies (yes, absolutely and a must!), to “what is natto?” and “where can I buy it?” (we recommend Megumi natto at the Japanese markets Nijiya and Mitsuwa here locally in Los Angeles). One question led to another, and what was supposed to be a 20-minute talk ended up being 40 minutes (thank you Mama Needs A Drink for letting the workshop go on longer!), and it ended only because Luriko had to leave for patient appointments!

It was so invigorating to see and hear so many parents asking all these wonderful questions. We truly appreciated this opportunity to be able to share with a new group of parents about Pediatric Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and natural remedies for colds and flus. We hope more families can utilize our powerful and effective, yet gentle medicine for their wee ones. Asian medicine can help change the trajectory of a child’s health just with a few treatments, herbs, and dietary changes. Imagine, healthier babies and children from the get-go!

I am so excited to share my news with you! Next month, in November, I will be heading out to Tokyo, Japan and Utazu, Japan (on the island of Shikoku) to further my skills and understanding of Asian medicine from a traditional Japanese Medicine perspective. As many of you who are my patients know, I practice a combination of Chinese and Japanese medicine. Japanese Medicine originally comes from China; however, like most everything else foreign, the Japanese took it and ran with it, making it their own distinct medical system.

Traditional Japanese Medicine puts a great emphasis, among other things, on palpation: the art of touching the human body to elicit diagnostic clues and treat illness. When combined with a medical theory that values the yin and yang of life--and that which you can observe, smell, hear, touch and see--the touch provides invaluable healing capacities far beyond what science and tests can prove. The human touch can be superior to any medicine. We all know how a hug or a mother's touch on a boo-boo heals all wounds. I was very much drawn to this art of palpating the human body and using my hands to treat my patients. Shonishin, which I extensively use in my practice both with babies/children and needle phobic/needle sensitive adults, came from my love and understanding of this power of touch.

I have therefore sought to study under the tutelage of several Japanese Medicine masters and teachers in both Japan and in the United States. Luckily, last year, I learned about a fantastic opportunity to learn from several living masters through an intensive 7-day seminar. Without hesitation, I signed up, and will soon be on my way!

Allow me to geek myself out on Traditional Japanese Medicine: I will be studying at Goto College of Medical Arts in Tokyo, one of the premiere acupuncture schools in Japan. There they conduct fascinating research in acupuncture, moxibustion stimulation and technique assessment. Three-and-a-half days will be spent in Tokyo studying from four different masters on moxibustion, palpation, non-needling techniques, and a unique approach that takes a different view from the dominant meridian therapy model (that’s English for assessing and treating the human body based on imbalances present in the 14 channel systems of the body).

On the fourth day, after a morning lecture, we will all board a shinkansen (high-speed passenger train) and head to the island of Shikoku for 3 days. There, we will sight-see for one day and then study for another 2 days at Shikoku Medical College. One whole day is dedicated to beauty treatments and facial acupuncture (better than Botox!!) from the president of Shikoku Medical College. On the last day of the 7-day seminar, we will be taught by the president of the Meridian Therapy Association. In this last lecture, we will gain a deeper understanding of pulse diagnosis (that’s when I put my fingers on your two wrists, for you patients) and psychologically understanding patients better so that we can provide even better nurturing care.

All this in 7 days!! I am so so excited to learn new skills and advance other skills. I’ve even asked the seminar organizers if they would be able to comment on pediatric care, so that I can take all they’re offering, plus my true love of pediatrics, to a whole new level.

If I were a young buck, I would fly in right before and fly out right after the seminar to bring this ASAP to all of my lovely patients, but alas, I am not. I am tacking on an extra couple days before the start of the seminar to help me acclimate to the new time zone and an extra few days in Shikoku and nearby to explore, as I have never been to this area of Japan and I hear its seafood is A.Ma.Zing and they have some beautiful old cities still intact from centuries ago but modernized for today's living. Rest assured, having been able to study, rest, and nourish my soul by exploring Shikoku, I will return having processed and integrated much of this new information free from the heavy demands of my busy clinic and motherhood life.

I can’t wait to come back to y’all and bring even more finesse, fine tuning and a deeper understanding of the Art of Asian Medicine to benefit my patients--big and small.

As such, I will be out of the country from 11/4 until 11/17, and office hours will resume back to normal on Monday, 11/21. Thank you so much for your patience, understanding, and support of my quest for continued knowledge.

Iyashi Wellness has been quoted in a national online sports magazine! As a resultof all the attention cupping has gained from the marks seen on Olympians Michael Phleps and Alex Naddour, the magazine has written about cupping, how I use it in my office, and has showcased other athletes who use cupping.

Cupping is an ancient technique utilized in Asian medicine but also found in Islamic traditions, Eastern Europe, and in Latin America.

Physicians of Asian Medicine use cupping to alleviate tight, tense, painful muscles. It is often used on the back and shoulders. The type of cupping seen on the Olympians uses a technique called Fire Cupping (using fire to create suction in the glass cups and putting these cups over surfaces of skin, with no fire in it of course) or pump cupping (using suction pumps to create suction in the plastic cups). Consider it a hickey if you will, without the mouth. The cups create negative pressure, bringing blood and deeper surfaces of muscles and fascia to the surface of the skin, thereby forcing blood to circulate through them to improve metabolic activity and detoxification processes. Doing this decreases inflammation, improves better blood and oxygen circulation, and thereby repairs muscles and fascia faster, improving muscle tone and hydration to the skin and muscles. Darker marks indicate more toxicity and stagnant blood was pulled out of the system. Redder marks mean more heat was pulled out.

Contrary to some reports in the news, the cupping marks do not hurt, unlike true bruises made from a blunt trauma to the area, like from hitting or falling. The intensity of the suction itself may hurt, but that can be quickly corrected and reduced under the care of a qualified healthcare practitioner, and allow the patient to enjoy the cupping treatment. If using pump cups, the control of the suction is even easier, allowing, as some athletes have noted in the news, to begin doing these types of cups themselves.

I use Fire Cupping on adults and children who like stronger stimulation. I use a gentler, less intense technique using silicone cups on infants, small children, and people with a sensitive constitution. (This technique usually does not leave the dark circular marks on the skin.) I see wonderful - immediate - results on children suffering from coughs, colds and flus, asthmatic presentations, ADD, low energy, picky appetites, constipation, anxiety and depression, and more. Same can be said with adults. The results are instant and long-lasting. I teach parents how to do either of the cupping techniques at home so that the effects of my treatment last longer.

If you haven't tried it, come in for a session! If cupping helped Michael Phelps get his 23rd Olympic medal, it can help you achieve your dreams, too!!

Three fundamental things all human beings must do consciously to stay alive are: sleep, eat and poop. (Breathing is of course another, but that's something we do unconsciously. I will cover breathing in the Metal Pillar. Sleep is partially conscious--the act of going to sleep is conscious, but sleep itself is beyond our control. I’ll cover the importance of sleep in the Water Pillar.) Of the 3 vital actions we must take to live, two fall under the Earth Pillar in Asian Medicine: Eating and Pooping.

Eating is the most time-consuming of the 3 actions. Not only is there the act of eating--literally masticating the food into swallowable bites, but there is everything else that surrounds eating: planning meals, buying groceries, chopping up and marinating ingredients, cooking, serving, sitting down to eat, clearing up the dishes, washing the dishes, and putting them all away. And the cycle starts all over again for every meal. For adults, most of us will eat--especially our lunches--in a rush, on the go, at the desk, or as an afterthought--long after hunger has struck--or not at all! Breakfast often mimics this similar pattern of rushing it, skipping it, or just doing coffee while we run out the door to work or to take our kids to school.

Imagine then, the food culture we have created for our children. Our children watch us rushing and not even eating our own meals. Then we expect our children to eat, and to eat healthily at that! As a consequence of both parents needing to work today, the time spent cooking at home has dramatically decreased, leading steadily to the rise in the last century of processed foods, ready-made meals, and eating out. I am sure it is not just me who has noticed that, compared to 10 years ago, grocery stores of today have allocated a much larger portion of their square footage to ready-made meals. If you walk into Whole Foods, they even have restaurants within the grocery store.

The important thing to remember is this simple belief in our children: Expect More. I don’t mean “expect more” in the authoritarian way, but “expect more” in the “I Believe You Can” way. Know that you as a parent have massive control in the beginning years to shape your child’s palate. It’s not too late for parents of older children, either. It may take some serious family talking, some tears, support from your spouse, clearing out the pantry and replacing junk food with more healthy options, and being firm with your convictions, but children are highly malleable. Staying consistent is key and role modeling is important. Healthy eating not only benefits the child’s long-term emotional and physical development and health, but if adopted by the whole family, it tremendously benefits the entire family’s emotional and physical well-being in the long run.

Expect your child to be able to eat that kale, or that brussels sprout, or that sardine, or that sauerkraut. Always remember that she may not eat it today, but if you keep offering it in different presentations and banish other enticing junk food options in the house, these actions will lead to the eventual first bite, second bite, third bite until ultimately she will tolerate it--or even like it! So hold that space of Belief In Her that one day she will be eating a healthy food item and help manifest that with your commitment to your child’s ability to eat new foods.

To entice children to try new things, encourage them to shop with you at the farmer's market or super market, prep the foods with you, and even help you cook. To remove the stress that often comes with food struggles, try introducing new foods at a restaurant where the air is a little more fun, you’re not stressed while cooking the food, and parents and children can enjoy each other’s company. Find families that eat like you’d like your child to eat, and have meals with them so that your child can watch his friend eating a plate of stir-fried veggies with meat, or drinking miso soup or eating a filet of salmon. As we know, peer pressure is powerful. Use it to your advantage.

Encouraging your child to eat healthy is not only good for their health, but for their academic success (Metal Pillar), social interactions (Fire Pillar), ability to get a good night’s sleep (Water Pillar), and sports performance (Wood Pillar). It is literally at the core of everything we CAN do, and affects every aspect of our lives. Core strengths -- both muscles and digestive abilities -- equates to better posture and proper musculoskeletal development as well.

Though not spoken often in these terms, core strength also includes the ability of the digestive system to properly defecate daily. Constipation is a massive problem in babies and children (as well as adults). I cannot count how many babies and children I have treated who are on laxatives. And even with laxatives, many of these children are still suffering. Poor core muscles, improper flow of qi in the channels, and inappropriate diets are the main culprits in infants and children who suffer from constipation. When there aren't proper daily bowel movements, the child’s body is unable to get rid of toxins, backlogging the system and preventing natural hunger pangs. This leads to a form of malnutrition and picky eating. Even as adults, if we’re constipated, we often don’t have a healthy appetite. The same is true for a child or a baby.

I will say here--contrary to popular belief--even breastfed babies should be pooping every day, and they can poop every day. It is only because so many breastfed babies are NOT having proper bowel movements every day that this has become “normal” in our society, but physiologically, it is NOT normal. If anything, breastfed babies should be pooping more frequently than formula-fed babies because they are drinking their own mother’s milk--the most natural food a baby can have--and therefore, easiest to digest and break down. Yes, it is true that breastfed babies can more effectively digest and absorb breast milk better than formula-fed babies and therefore have smaller quantities of poop, but byproduct is byproduct, even from breast milk, and that needs to be removed from the body. The difference between breastfed babies' and formula-fed babies' poops are in the quantity, smell and color. Every baby, breastfed or formula-fed, should be pooping daily. I have countless times helped turn around babies to having daily--even multiple times a day--bowel movements, helping them get off prunes and other laxatives.

In the Five Element philosophy of Asian Medicine, we also attribute specific flavors to each element. Sour is for Wood, Bitter is for Fire, Sweet is for Earth, Pungent is for Metal and Salty is for Water. By teaching your child to appreciate all 5 flavors, you are also helping your child fully develop and regulate each of the organ systems and the Pillars (and will improve bowel regularity). American children tend to eat only sweet and salty flavors. Help them expand by introducing sour, bitter and pungent flavors.

From an Asian Medicine perspective, there is much we can do to support a child’s healthy gut, strong core and successful school performance -- socially and academically. It is one of Asian Medicine’s tenets that to have a sharp and clear mind, one needs a healthy, well-functioning stomach and bowels. Just as eating is an act of taking in food, absorbing the nutrients, nourishing our bodies, and removing unwanted by-products, studying is similar in concept. One is taking in new information, absorbing it into the memory and putting it to use for daily cognitive needs and forgetting what one finds useless (or can I say too difficult to grasp initially!). Both eating and learning require repetition and muscle building--gut and brain muscle. Asian Medicine has long understood what Western Science is just catching up on today: the dynamic connection between the gut and brain, and that one begets the other. We have specific treatment protocols to strengthen the gut and brain connection.

As much as exercise, human connections, sleep and education are important in the healthy development of children, at the core is healthy nutrition and an optimally-functioning digestive system. Investing in healthy meals and ensuring proper bowel movements are worth the time, money and effort to raise children who will be healthy, resilient, happy and productive citizens.

Fitness is one of the largest growing industries today. When choosing which program best fits your life and your desired outcome, it is important to look at these four aspects of a fitness routine:

Endurance: These activities are designed to increase your heart rate and breathing for extended periods. Gradually build up endurance exercises over a period of time, initially starting out with as little as 5 minutes. Examples of endurance exercises include briskly walking, cycling, long-distance running, aerobics, and may even include mopping or scrubbing a floor, and mowing or raking the lawn. Dancing is another fun and fantastic endurance exercise. A very popular form of endurance exercise right now is the tabata-style training often used in 30-minute boot camps, where endurance exercises are mixed with strength training.

Strength training: Increasing your strength can improve and maintain your mobility, control your weight, prevent osteoporosis, and sculpt a muscular body. Developing strong muscles and connective tissues also take the weight off your joints, allowing the muscles to hold up your body and prevent injury. Lifting weights is one of the easiest and fastest ways to build muscle. Martial arts are another form of strength training exercises. If you’re looking to have a leaner look with strong muscles, consider pilates.

Flexibility: Increasing your flexibility will help “loosen” you up and allow you to move more freely. One great way to prevent injury and aid performance is to do stretching exercises before and after endurance and strength training. Yoga and gentle stretching fall within this category. The popular Barre method is another example that builds flexibility but also strength and endurance.

Balance: More and more, people are seeking balance exercises to reduce stress and harmonize body, mind and spirit. Tai Chi, Qi Gong and certain forms of yoga are exercises designed to maintain balance in the body while cultivating Qi energy that can keep you strong and healthy.

Especially for the Ladies: An aspect to consider for women and their exercise routine is to be aware of the hormonal changes that happen monthly with menstruation. By following the suggestions written in this article, your workouts can work with your body. Paying attention to the natural ebbs and flows of your energy allows your cycle to progress smoothly each month and prevents common PMS symptoms that often accompanies a woman's menstrual cycle.

A general rule of thumb is to include all 4 types of exercises each week to make sure you get the benefits of all of them. Work out every day, even for 20 minutes, instead of being a weekend warrior and doing a workout blast of 120-240 minutes that makes you more prone to injury.

Talk to a qualified professional before you start an exercise routine to best determine what exercises will be most effective in reaching your desired outcome of a healthy, balanced body.

Acupuncture and Exercise? Of Course! Consider acupuncture for both performance enhancement (identifying the underlying conditions that may predispose an individual to injuries) and for treating sports-related injuries effectively. Remember, acupuncture can be introduced at any phase of a treatment regimen for an injury. A subset of Chinese Medicine was born to treat the myriads of injuries that occurred during martial arts training and fighting. We have multiple techniques at our disposal that include acupuncture, internal herbs, external topicals, tuina, cupping and moxa that will effectively treat injuries big and small. Though written for injuries occurring in children, this article I wrote is just as appropriate for sports injuries in adults. Chinese Medicine is safe, effective and natural.

When you think of children, it’s pretty universal to think of wide smiles and gleeful laughter. Children are the best teachers when it comes to helping us adults "be" in the present, slow down, and find the wonder and joy in the smallest of things. Children innately understand simple pleasures and revel in them, allowing these simple pleasures to take them to far off lands of wild imagination. Because of this openness and present-ness that children have, it also comes very natural for most children to quickly build deep friendships over shared interests. It may be a fleeting friendship at a park, but deep enough for the child to say “I made a new friend at the park today!” or a long-lasting friendship built over years of going to the same school or being part of a club. Children are ambassadors of joy and creativity and masters of human connection.

As I described in the previous Wood Pillar article, Chinese Medicine ascribes certain attributes to 5 natural elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. In Chinese Medicine, human connection and the emotion of joy are attributes of the Fire Pillar, the same attributes of children described above. These examples illustrate a child balanced within the aspects of the Fire Pillar. When a child’s Fire element is in harmony with the rest of the pillars, the child can express joy and wonderment and connect with family and others in appropriate, balanced ways. When the Fire element is off balance, the line of appropriate expression skews, making children unable to self-regulate joyous emotions, making them prone to wild, manic expressions of joy with difficulty calming down, or the inability to stop certain activities at the expense of others because it provides joy or satisfaction. An unbalanced Fire Pillar can also cause behavior on the opposite end of the spectrum: a withdrawn, depressed and sad child.

When the Fire Pillar is off balance, these children also have a difficult time connecting with peers and family members, have difficulty making eye contact, maintaining sustained relationships, initiating social interactions, and reading social and emotional cues to interact appropriately. Interacting socially is a complex activity that requires layers of learned behavior through sociocultural input. It starts at home as the child watches and learns how his parents and siblings interact with one another and him. This input is enhanced at mommy and me classes and when they enter preschool or kindergarten and further on, learning from fellow friends and teachers what is appropriate and what is not. When cues are provided by family and society to a child, a child normally learns in time how to behave and interact appropriately. If, however, even after these natural cues are provided and the child still has socio-emotional developmental issues, in Chinese Medicine, we often look to the child’s Heart system.

Just as the Wood’s organ is the Liver in Chinese Medicine, the Fire’s organ is the Heart. By looking at signs and symptoms expressed by the child and assessing the child through palpatory diagnostic methods and inquiry, we can assess the strength of the child’s Heart system. We look for imbalances, such as emotional swings of depression or overjoy-mania, sleep issues, intimacy issues, cognition problems, speech impediments (stuttering, muttering, etc.), or pain/rash/redness/coldness along the heart channel (inner arm from the arm pit to the pinky finger). Then, through shonishin and/or acupuncture, herbs, diet, supplements and massage, physicians of Asian Medicine will bring that back to balance so that the Heart system can function properly.

In the case of a child, one of the fastest ways to see an imbalance in the Heart system is through his or her sleeping/napping abilities, emotional stability and looking at the eyes. Mothers often know right away just by looking at the eyes of their children that something is wrong or that they are sick. This is because even in Chinese Medicine, we say the eyes are the direct pathway into the soul of the being, and the Heart is the Monarch, Supreme Ruler in Chinese Medicine, in which all other systems must abide.

The Heart’s emotion is joy. When a child is blissfully happy, we know her Heart is balanced. When a child is depressed or angry, the Heart’s ability to control the rest of the systems are off balance. We also say if a child is too happy, i.e., manically happy, or is constantly seeking pleasure via the senses and can’t stop the activity, is also an imbalance of the Heart system.

How do you nurture the Fire Pillar in your child? You do so by helping a child see joy and gratitude in even the small things, as well as empathy towards others. Part of this, like with anything a child learns, is through role modeling from the parents. If a child sees a parent smiling and laughing often, it is contagious and a child will learn these cues. After all, a sense of humor is a cultural construct. Playing games, making jokes, playing card board games, making up stories, reading stories, drawing, playing pretend, and any of the myriad activities that promote imagination, creativity and positivity also help a child learn to tap into their joy. There are many actions a parent takes that children observe and that reinforce a sense of gratitude and expansion of the heart: hearing a parent say their thank you’s, taking a moment to appreciate a pretty stone during a walk, having a “Gratitude Talk” at the end of the night to say thanks for something in particular, thanking a child for their contribution in the family dynamic. A parent showing concern for self and others, bringing a child along to volunteer activities, and reaching out to help others teaches empathy. By building empathy, a child can learn that their actions can hurt – or uplift – another individual, and will then build the ability to regulate their emotions and actions to elicit – we hope – peace, harmony and community with friends and family members.

In regards to building a child’s sense of joy and humor, it must be noted that it requires you to provide the give and take of laughing and finding joy in the activity. This creates connection of the heart and spirit, filling the child with more positive Qi and a blueprint that to be human requires another human being to substantiate their existence and their sense in the world. It also creates what in the child development world is called Perspective Taking. As they develop, children grow beyond the “me thinking” toddler stage and eventually learn to do “we thinking.” Children who are on the spectrum often cannot do “we thinking” because their prefrontal cortex is lacking. The prefrontal cortex is what helps in decision making, self regulation, and impulse control. In Chinese Medicine, this same function falls under the Monarch, i.e., the Heart system’s function.

If your child is an introvert by nature, nurture empathy, perspective taking and laughter on a smaller scale, creating occasions of interactions with one friend at a time instead of in a group setting. If you as a parent are an extrovert, it is especially important to honor the child’s introvert nature and allow connection on a quiet, smaller scale. If you are an introvert and your child is an extrovert, this becomes a learning opportunity for both parent and child to foster self-awareness, knowing each other’s strengths, weaknesses and growth areas so that both of you can build empathy and a happy medium where you are nurtured and nourished in ways that will fulfill you both.

Though written for those in our profession by a fellow colleague, Suzy McCleary, DTCM, this article also elucidates other aspects of the Fire Pillar, the effects of overstimulation on the Fire Pillar, and additional tips to keep the Heart system calm and balanced.

Now that you are aware of the Fire Pillar and the influence it has on our lives, note where you can nurture it in yourself, your child, your family--with anyone you meet. I'm sure you'd agree that our world could do with more human connection and joy!

Healthy eating tips for the summer are a little tricky!

Since the weather is warm, you need light, cooling foods. Juicy peaches, sweet watermelons, tomatoes hot off the vine… The right foods are easy to find. One trip through your garden or a walk through a farmer’s market and you’ll have the perfect summer meal.